‘They didn’t save me five cents’: Walmart Black Friday sale backfires

Brenda Michalski says she was charged an additional $60 when shopping on Black Friday.

Some customers who rushed to Dartmouth Crossing Walmart for Black Friday sales expected a $20 gift card in return for buying an iPad mini.

Instead, they were charged an extra $20.

Brenda Michalski was in line at 5:30 a.m. on Friday determined to cash in on the deal.

“We bought three and you were to get a $20 gift card back on each one,” said Michalski. “But instead of getting a $20 refund, we got charged an additional $60.”

Michalski wasn’t the only one. As customers lined up, she says it seemed the Walmart staff didn't know what to do.

“They tried to figure out how to do the refund. Nobody knew how to do it.”

Michalski says she then called the electronics manager.

“He looked at us and said, 'I don't know what to tell you. I don't do refunds,' and I looked at him and said, 'Wrong answer,' because that to me was the straw that broke the camel's back.”

Michalski eventually got her money back. She thought she was leaving with a refund and extra credit but later realized she was only repaid the money she was owed.

“Their mission statement is they're committed to saving Canadians money. They didn't save me five cents yesterday. It cost me sales at other stores, it cost me more gas to go back and it cost me 35 minutes of my time,” said Michalski.

The manager says the incident happened because of a human error. So far between five and 10 people have received refunds.

Walmart Canada spokesperson Alex Roberton says the corporation is looking into the issue and taking it seriously.

Marketing professor Ed McHugh says restitution should happen following the $20 refund.

“You either add on another $20 gift certificate or some way to show good faith back to your customers,” said McHugh.

Michalski says she doesn't want special treatment, but to be treated fairly.

“Walmart needs to show me that they value my business.”

Roberton says he doesn’t know whether there had been issues with any other products.

He says there typically would be a customer service gesture in these situations, but says that’s up to the individual store.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kayla Hounsell.